Me - male, so-so looking, not too bright.....lol
Location - Ontario, Canada
Credentials - non-existent
Talent - questionable at best
Enthusiasm - over the top
Equipment - Weber Silver A
Grilling Background - total newbie
Why Do I - impresses the wife, AND I get to play with fire without getting arrested
Best Dish - cedar planked salmon, nothing fancy, just good
Favorite Moment - BBQ’ing on a $5 steel grate over a wood fire at the beach

Got hooked on Steven’s stuff after watching the show on a PBS station, his books are great and the site is awesome. Is there anything better than a book full of pictures, written by someone who seems to be talking directly to you? Nicely done Mr. Raichlen.

Looking forward to learning from the group, it’s a unique opportunity to collect skills, knowledge and experience from a diverse cross-section of people.

Right now I have a great deal of interest in the “tools of the trade” so it’s off to search the forum for equipment tips.

Nice to meet you all……. Happy New Year!

Jeff

"My menu consists of two choices: Take it or leave it."
- Buddy Hackett

Mon Dec 29, 2003 7:28 am

Lowrider

Got to say that a common "link" on a lot of these threads is that we caught the show on PBS by mistake. I also did the same. I had just purchased a TIVO box this summer and somehow typed in a hot word of "BBQ" and lo and behold a week later I saw one of Steve
shows (and eventually "BBQ America"). Anway...at that point I realized I had not been using by weber 22.5" kettles to its full potential...sure the manual says "indirect" but until I really saw it done by Steve on TV. I immediately saw the potential and the once untouchable realm of "ribs", "whole chicken", "big cuts of meat" became a real possibility. I have cooked up for many an occassion now...and even haul my 3 22.5" webers to events to bbq. It helps that my neighbor is also into smoking.

Welcome Hicksjr...There's a lot of grilling experience here, including a lot of people willing to share information. Like you, I became involved after seeing one of Steven's shows on PBS. Hope you enjoy it here!!

Thanks for the welcome hickory pete! You are correct; it's a great place to get info.

I do have one complaint about the forums though. I can only surf threads for about twenty minutes at a time before the overwhelming urge to try one of the suggestions I'm reading about overtakes me! My eyes roll back in my head, I break out in a cold sweat and start chanting "Raichlen"...... "Raichlen" and before I know it the BBQ is fired and something is sizzling.

Is there any advice you can share for this problem, is it contagious, any known cures?

P.S. I've read the diet thread......... yuck!

lol

Jeff

"My menu consists of two choices: Take it or leave it."
- Buddy Hackett

The only thing that I would suggest is...why fight it? Enjoy the "obsession". The condition will increase in severity after you buy some of Steven's books. If reading some of these threads make your eyes roll , they'll really take off like slot machines when you get the books . Seriously, hope you enjoy, and good luck!

Howdy Y'all,
Shout outs from the burbs of Hotlanta. I'm so glad this disc board is here. I've been looking for such a board for a while now. My wife got me How To Grill and I checked out the website from there.
My grillin biography starts off with campfire grillin in Boy Scouts as a lad. Dad had a Weber Kettle growing up but it was mainly used for steaks, bugers, dogs, and pork chops. I had no concept of everything that black sphere was capable of. Not realising how good I had it, I always wanted a gas grill. When I moved out on my own, my first room-mate had a gas grill. We both loved to cook and I used it quite a bit. Over the years, I've gone through about 4 gas grills, 2 of which I still have. How many people can relate to me on this one... I always wanted one of those sideburner grills and having had one for a few years now, I can't recall for sure whether I've even used it.
Anyway, I love to grill. I rarely do hamburgers. (No pun intended.) I love to experiment with new things to throw on the grill. If your going to make homemade pizza, grill it. I do veggies prettty often. My most experimental grill venture was making Spaghetti sauce on the grill. It turned out great and as I perfect the technique, I'll share more on that. I love pork tenderloins grilled too. Now that I have one of Steve's books I'd like to try something new at least once a week. For years I've wanted to do homemade lazagna on the grill. Anyone else done that here?
Late last summer I started working at Home Depot in the Grill department. Its a rough job but somebodys gotta do it. Sell the sizzle. This christmas Santa brought me a Horizontal Smoker. It's a Char-Broil Silver Smoker. I feel like I've just entered a new frontier. I look forward to travelling this frontier with all of you.[/u]

I grew up in North Carolina, which as everyone knows is one of several regional hotbeds of great barbecue. Unfortunately, at my house, barbecue was something cooked to pieces in a crock pot, swimming in store-bought sauce. It wasn't until I was grown and on my own that I learned the truth and saw the light!

I've been cooking outside on one kind of grill or another for over 30 years. I started with a Weber 18.5" kettle, which I still have. When I moved to my current home, the house we bought had a Jacuzzi gas grill mounted on the deck, connected to the natural gas system. When it finally died (no more replacement parts available) I replaced it with a BroilMaster. About 4 years ago I got interested in cooking real barbecue (which is hard to find in Virginia - they do great country hams here, though), and bought a Brinkmann Gourmet smoker - which was a pain to use until I made some modifications to allow effective temperature control, and allowed it to cook for several hours without any attention from me. I kept hoping it would wear out or rust out, or even that someone would steal it, but no luck... so for Christmas I bought myself a Weber Smokey Mountain which I am now enjoying.

Although I'm still stuck in the barbecue wasteland of Virginia, I have made an annual pilgrimage to the Blue Ridge BBQ Festival in Tryon, NC for the last 3 years - since it's only about 45 minutes from my parents' home. This year I hope to attend a couple of other competitions (as a spectator, not a competitor). In the meantime, I'm happy eating my own cooking.

My love for BBQ started young. As long as I can remember my dad has always barbequed great meals. My favorites are fresh Albacore Tuna on a rotisserie and Thanksgiving Turkey. My love grew from there. Now I hope to pass down the tradition to my son. I have a Weber 18", Fiesta single burner propane, and Oklahoma Joes horizontal smoker (soon to be modified). I got the smoker 2 years ago for a birthday gift and have been hooked on smokin' since. I don't chime in much, but read all the posts and appreciate all the information. Now if I can only get my pork shoulder to pull my wife would let me smoke more.

Great Post!!!!!!!!!!
I have been grilling for about ten years, but, burgers, steaks, and some pork now and then doth not a real griller make. When I first bought Steve's Barbecue! Bible, I realized just how much I DIDN'T know.
But the books made the obsession grow to its current level of insanity. I love the variety, and the skill the books as well as all y'all on the line provide me with.
My primary weapons are : a 22 inch Weber gold Kettle, a Weber bullet smoker, a Weber Genesis gas grill.(I know, I know, but gas is good when you have little time) And even though I own gas, I still never boil my ribs. Thanks again for your help and insights.

I'm a newbie to this group, but thank god I found it! This is the perfect place to talk about my passion of grilling things with other enthusits! I am a married 26 year old, father of one and a half (the second is due on June 17), hence the name, "CharcoalGrillinDaddy". I live in Greensboro, NC but was raised in New Market, MD. I started out on a gas Charbroil grill but wised up and purchased a 21 1\2 inch weber charcoal kettle after the burner rotted and flames shot out of each side of the Charbroil when grilling. I absolutly love my weber grill!! I have been grillin' for about 6 years now and have learned a lot. A friend of mine bought me Steven's book "The Barbecue Bible" for a wedding present and it compleatly changed the way I approach grilling! I really like the variety of recipies in that book and the way Steven tells a story with each recipie. Everything I have cooked in that book has been great! I like to think that I'm pretty good at grilling but thats for the people who eat my stuff to decide, I just love doing it. I enjoy the challenges that outdoor cooking presents, especially the weather. This summer, it seems that God did not want me to grill ribs because each time I decided to grill them, a voilent thunderstorm would pass through. Just picture someone standing out in a downpour soaking wet tending to the ribs while lightening flashing everywhere, a river flowing through my yard, and my neighbors grill covers flying through the air! Fun stuff. Anyway, its nice to find a group to get tips and share experiences with. My favorite things to cook are NC Style Pulled Pork BBQ and Beer Can Chicken. One beer for the chicken, one for me.....the chicken can't drink alone!